MONACO, Monaco - The IOC approved a wide-ranging reform package Monday, including a more affordable bidding process, creation of an Olympic television channel and a more flexible sports program that could bring baseball and softball into the 2020 Tokyo Games.The IOC also approved the rewording of non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation — a move that followed the controversy over Russias law against gay propaganda ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.The International Olympic Committee voted in favour of the new rules on the opening day of a special session to adopt President Thomas Bachs 40-point Olympic Agenda 2020 program, the biggest changes in the IOC in decades.All the recommendations were approved unanimously in one day, rather than the scheduled 1 1/2 days.This Olympic Agenda 2020 is like a jigsaw puzzle, Bach told the delegates. Now that you have approved all the recommendations, you can see the whole picture of this puzzle. ... It was a very important day for the IOC and the Olympic movement.The IOC abolished the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games to move to an events-based system that would allow new competitions to come in, while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events.Host cities will also be allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their games.The new rules clear the way for Tokyo organizers to request that baseball and softball be included in the 2020 Games. Both sports, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games, are highly popular in Japan.Today, there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real opportunity ... to play for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal, said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation.Other sports like squash and karate are also hopeful of joining the Tokyo program. In addition, new disciplines and events within existing sports could also be considered. Some events may need to be dropped to make room for new ones.This is a major breakthrough, senior Canadian member Dick Pound said. We were at a dead-end situation with 28 sports. This provides the flexibility we need.The new bidding process, meanwhile, is aimed at making the system cheaper and more flexible to attract future candidates — including the option of holding events outside the host city or country.The votes came at a time when many countries have been scared off by the costs of hosting the Olympics, including the reported $51 billion associated with the Sochi Games. Several cities withdrew from the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the running.The new system makes the process more of an invitation and allows prospective candidates to discuss their plans in advance with the IOC to tailor games to their own needs — and keep them affordable.In the most radical change, cities will be allowed to hold events outside the host city or country. This opens the door to joint bids by cities, neighbouring countries or regions.IOC vice-president John Coates said holding events outside the host country would only be considered in exceptional circumstances. He said the idea would have to be raised in the early phase of bidding and would need approval from the IOC executive board.The compactness of the bid is always important, Coates said. But the compactness of the games has to be weighed up with the cost benefit of being able to use existing venues rather than build new venues.The IOC backed the launch of a digital channel — possibly as early as next year — to promote Olympic sports between the games and engage with young viewers. The channel will feature material from the IOCs archives, transmit some international sports competitions and offer a promotional platform for bid cities.This is really a historical step, Bach said.The IOC said the channel — to be run by the Madrid-based Olympic Broadcasting Services — will cost $600 million to operate over the first seven years, with the goal of breaking even in the first decade.The new Principle 6 clause says the Olympics should be free of discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.This is a pivotal moment for equality in sport, said Andre Banks, executive director and co-founder of internal gay rights group All Out.___Follow Stephen Wilson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stevewilsonap Sammy Watkins Chiefs Jersey .com) - The New York Islanders will try to solve their issues against Central Division opponents when they visit the Minnesota Wild for Tuesdays battle at Xcel Energy Center. 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The deal, which includes $16 million guaranteed, rewards Grimes for his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury that forced him to miss almost all of the 2012 season.WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- South Africas Sharks and defending champions the Chiefs remained the only unbeaten teams in Super Rugby after a fifth round which featured a storm of yellow cards and cliff-hanger endings. The Durban-based Sharks withstood a furious second-half fightback to beat the Queensland Reds 35-20 for a fourth straight win which gave them a five-point lead atop the championship table. The Hamilton-based Chiefs scored two late tries to beat the Cape Town-based Stormers 36-20 for their third win, after the Stormers rallied from 24-6 down to 24-20 with six minutes remaining. The ACT Brumbies, reduced to 14 men for almost 20 minutes, held on to beat the New South Wales Waratahs 28-23 in a gripping Australian derby, inflicting the Waratahs first loss in three games. In Dunedin, the Western Force were reduced to 13 men for the last eight minutes but clung on to beat the Highlanders 31-29 for their second straight bonus-point victory. Replacement flyhalf Hayden Parker scored a last-minute try for the Highlanders but missed the conversion, allowing the Force to claim back-to-back wins for the first time since April 2011. The Auckland-based Blues scored 36 second-half points in the most remarkable comeback of the round but still went down 39-36 to the Lions in Johannesburg, to be left with only one win from four matches. The Blues had two players sin-binned during the second half. In Wellington, the Hurricanes overran the Cheetahs 60-27, by nine tries to three, to capture their first win of the season in a match in which defences were either inept or non-existent. The match featured the most bizarre sin-binning of the round -- Cheetahs fullback Willie Le Roux was shown a yellow card in the 43rd minute for a deliberate knock-on, though it seemed perfectly apparent he had attempted an intercept. The flurry of yellow cards and a number of other contentious decisions again focused attention on the poor or inconsistent standard of refereeing, which continues to frustrate coaches and players. Scrums remain a particular area of frustration but there have been wider concerns about the failure of referees to spot glaring infringements -- notably in a critical try for the Lions against the Blues which came ffrom a knock-on.dddddddddddd Players and coaches must also answer for a lack of structure and the poor quality of fundamental skills in many matches -- the rates of turnovers and handling errors are higher than even early season glitches can excuse. The match between the Hurricanes and Cheetahs was a free-for-all that lacked any structure and in which tackles were not only regularly missed but often not even attempted. The Brumbies showed the value of a well-organized defence in their win over the Waratahs. Though they conceded 14 late points, they were still able to hold on while a man short to post their third win from four games and to move to the top of the Australian conference. Flanker Scott Fardy and flyhalf Matt Toomua were leaders of an outstanding Brumbies defensive effort. Brumbies captain Ben Mowen said he was disappointed his team lost two players to yellow cards, requiring it to play most of the last 20 minutes with 14. "Discipline goes hand in hand with how we want to play," he said. "Thats not something you can do regularly and expect to get a result." The Sharks benefitted from a yellow card in beating the Reds after leading 25-6 athree minutes from fulltime to clinch the matcthree minutes from fulltime to clinch the match. "We gave the Sharks some ball position and some ill-discipline really cost us - theyve got some great goalkickers and that showed on the scoreboard," Reds captain James Horwill said. The Chiefs again showed they are the best-coached team in New Zealand with their win over the Stormers. They scored five tries, including one to Tanerau Latimer in his 100th match, as coach Dave Rennie and his assistants devised a method to break down the Stormers formidable defence. "Its pretty exciting when you do a lot of analysis during the week and you see certain pictures that the defence gives you and you are able to exploit it right up the field," Chiefs co-captain Aaron Cruden said. "We made most of our best gains deep in our half as opposed to closer to their line. It was nice to step up." 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